Hope in the Day of the LORD

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Glenn

The beginning of the Day of the LORD is a sad, evil time. Amos therefore scolded his people saying,

Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light. (Amos 5:18)

He knew they were not ready to bear the darkness and evil of that day.  His people, the chosen people of God, engaged in all manner of wickedness and sin.  He thus warned them,

You who turn justice to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth, Seek him that makes the seven stars and Orion, and turns the shadow of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night: that calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name: That strengthens the plundered against the strong, so that the plundered shall come against the fortress.

They hate him that rebukes in the gate, and they abhor him that speaks uprightly. Since therefore you tread upon the poor, and you take from him burdens of wheat: you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not dwell in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink wine of them. For I know your manifold transgressions, and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right. Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.

Seek good, and not evil, that you may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as you have spoken. Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish justice in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph. (Amos 5:7-15)

Today, God’s people act no differently and, in fact, follow, and sometimes even lead, the world into greater and greater debauchery.  But, for those who will humble themselves and repent of their sins, God yet gives hope.  Amos here tells us that our hope rests in hating the evil and loving the good, and in establishing justice at the gate, that is, doing justice in the places where judgment, lawmaking, and acting upon laws occurs, in our courts, legislatures, and executive offices, in our armies and corporate business. This explains why it remains still prudent to support godly men for elective office and appointment.

But, the time comes during the Day of the LORD when “night comes and no man can work,” when darkness covers the earth as the waters cover the sea. What then? Do we despair? No, we continue to hope and to expect  our God to intervene for and protect those who trust in him. We remember Psalm 91 and say of the LORD,

“He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly pestilence.” (Psalms 91:2-3)

So, when we see chemtrails sprayed into the skies and falling onto our heads and into our lungs, let us remember that our God will deliver us from the deadly pestilence. When we hear of FEMA camps getting ready to incarcerate the general population, let us remember that God delivers us from the snare of the fowler. When we hear that radioactive waste from Fukishima or WW III threatens the entire world with cancer and death let us remember,

You shall not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flies by day; Nor for the pestilence that walks in darkness; nor for the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you. (Psalms 91:5-7)

God prepared his overcomers, the faithful remnant of his seed, for this very time. Let us not give in to fear, especially as we see the wicked prevail in all things at this very hour. The reality is that they can only do what God allows. Their time is short. This is the beginning of the Day of the LORD, the day when God will destroy those who destroy the earth, the day when Jesus establishes his Kingdom on earth, the day when God glorifies his overcomers and raises them up to rule the earth with a rod of iron. Therefore encourage one another with these words. Amen.

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I AM the Bread of Life (I AM (10))

Posted on November 27, 2011 by Glenn

Read John 6. This is the famous passage where Jesus feeds over five thousand people by multiplying five barley loaves and two fish which one person possessed. Jesus produced such an abundance through this miracle that after the feast Jesus’ disciples collected twelve baskets full of broken fragments of food. As the story begins John recounts that the people followed Jesus “because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick.” After performing this miracle John says, “”When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, `This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!’” (John 6:14)

I do not yet understand the full meaning of this historical parable, so I will leave that interpretation to another time. Today let us begin to consider what Jesus meant when he said, “I am the Bread of Life” in verses 35 and 48.

First, recall what Jesus did when he realized that the people who saw him multiply the bread and fish now wanted to forcefully make him their king. “Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.” (vs. 15) Jesus refused to be exalted by them into some worldly position. Then, in the middle of the night, he sneaked away from the multitude and walked across the stormy sea of Tiberias. He came to the boat of his startled disciples in the midst of that sea and then miraculously transported them all to Capernaum.

The next day all the people who had eaten that miraculous bread and fish looked for Jesus, found he was no longer on their side of the sea, and traveled in boats to Capernaum seeking him. When they found him they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly , I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.” What? First of all Jesus does not even answer the peoples’ specific question. Second, when he does answer, he says exactly opposite what John had stated twice was the reason the people followed Jesus? What is happening here?

Like today the people in Jesus’ time followed him for merely carnal or fleshly reasons. They saw that he healed sickness. They wanted to be well. They saw that he miraculously created food; they wanted to eat. They saw that Jesus literally did miracles before their eyes and therefore they wanted to make him their king. How similar we are today. Many of the mega-ministries of the past came into being because the ministry’s leader did supernatural miracles like healing. People flocked to those leaders and they built million-dollar empires to their greatness. Oral Roberts University comes to mind. Pat Robertson’s CBN and Regent University come to mind. Jesus told us if someone comes in his own name that we will accept him, but warned us that we would not accept him (Jesus) because he came in the name of his Father instead of in his own name. He came to teach us spiritual authority and submission. He came to show us the way to his spiritual kingdom; he did not come to build a worldly kingdom. “The Kingdom of God does not come by observation,” he said. He meant that we would not see the Kingdom of God manifest in this earth, at least not for a long, long time. Instead, he said, “The Kingdom of God is within you.” I had a good Bible teacher at St. Louis Christian College long ago, Keith McCaslin, I think, who said, “The Kingdom of God is already, but not yet.” The “already” is the Kingdom of God within you. The “not yet” is the physical manifestation of that kingdom.

John said the people followed Jesus because they saw the signs. Jesus said they did not follow him because of the signs. God fills his word with this type of seeming contradictions. Unbelievers say the contradictions prove that the Bible is not really inspired by God. Believers gloss over them because they cannot understand them. When we notice them, we need to stop and consider them, ruminate over them like an ox (one of the clean animals) and ask God to reveal the meaning. That’s what I did this morning and had this new blog to write.

Christians continue to take most of the Bible literally and build their theology and eschatology on their literal interpretations. But, Jesus always spoke in parables. God gave John the Book of Revelation in pictures which similarly speak in parables to us. We will not see a dragon rise from the sea; we will not see four literal horseman; we will not see a harlot ride a beast; we will not see the apostles turned into gems or stones and become part of the foundation of New Jerusalem. The words that God speaks are Spirit and they are life.

Jesus told the people following him that they did not seek him for the signs; they sought him for what they could get! Then he began a discourse that all but wiped out this new megachurch of his. He said they must eat his flesh and drink his blood if they wanted to live! Gross. Gross. Gross. “Are you a cannibal” they wondered in their inner hearts. “You must eat my flesh and drink my blood,” he said, “or you have no life in you.” Gross. Gross. Gross. “We excommunicate you from our Church, Jesus,” they must have thought.

But Jesus did not want the people to take his words literally. After they left him he told his disciples, “It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63 KJ2000)

This is the entire point John desires to make in this chapter. Quit approaching Jesus in the natural. Quit looking at him as that big Santa Clause in the sky. Understand that his words, yes his very words, bring LIFE! ETERNAL LIFE!

But he knew that almost all the people would desert him, so he said to his disciples, “Will you leave me also?” Then Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? you have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68 KJ2000)

Understand, then, that we live in a similar time. We do not know see physical manifestations of God’s Kingdom. We do not (usually or often) see true miracles even though many of us travel the globe seeking them. But to you Jesus would say, “You do not seek me because you saw miracles.” In other words, “You do not seek me because you truly seek the source of the miracle you have seen. You seek me for your own carnal reasons. You must begin to seek me for the right reason, for truth and holiness. For I am, yes I truly am, the Christ, the holy one of God. You must eat my flesh and drink my blood or you have not life in you.” (John 6:69) Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus is. Jesus is God. No one comes to the Father unless he comes through Jesus. No one has eternal life until he begins to feed on true food which is his (spiritual) flesh and his (spiritual) blood.

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I AM Come in My Father’s Name (2) (I AM (9))

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Glenn

After inspiring John to recount a historical parable, which we saw in the previous post, Jesus now begins to speak directly to his overcomers. He says,

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do: for whatsoever things he does, these also does the Son likewise.” (John 5:19)

Here Jesus explains why he could do what he did and also tells us why we can’t do what he did. We do not see the Father in the same way that Jesus did. We do not see what God is doing; therefore we cannot do what we see the Father doing. The mark of the overcomer, however, is that, like Jesus, he wants to do what he sees his Father doing. This is the selflessness that God requires of those he would glorify. The coming glory is not for ourselves; it does not come so that we can lord it over others; it does not come so that the world can acclaim us as “great.”

When the revelation of the sons of God occurs, the time of the first resurrection and the glorification of God’s overcomers, these sons will only do what they see their Father doing. They will not strike out on their own and they will not work independently of each other. They will be as the army of God described by Joel,

Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD comes, for it is near at hand; A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great and strong people; there has not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, through the years of many generations. A fire devours before them; and behind them a flame burns: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devours the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. Before their face the people shall be in great pain: all faces are drained of color. They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march each one on his way, and they shall not break their ranks: Neither shall one jostle another; they shall walk each one in his path: and when they lunge between the swords, they shall not be wounded. They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executes his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can endure it? (Joel 2:1-11)

God will reveal his overcomers in the darkest time of man’s history, the time we have now entered, the Day of the LORD. The darkness has not become as dark as it will get because the resurrection has not yet occurred, but we are getting close. Joel describes that terrible time. And Jesus, in John 5, begins to reveal the incredible power that God’s army will wield in that day. Now read John 5:19-47. I believe that Jesus both describes his spiritual power and the power that the Overcomers will display upon their glorification.

First, like Jesus, the Overcomers will only do what they see their Father doing. Second, like Jesus, they will have the power to give life to whomever they will. Third, the judgment of all mankind shall be placed in their hands. Fourth, those who believe upon them, just as they believed upon Jesus, will pass into everlasting life and escape condemnation. (This is true because the Overcomers willingly bore their cross, just as Jesus did. This is how they overcame, “by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” (Revelation 12:11))

Fifth, and now hold on to your hats, the Overcomers will have life in themselves, the actual creation-causing life which Jesus himself bore. The hour is coming when the dead will hear the voice of the sons of God, and they that hear shall live! Yes, believe it or not, the Father will use his overcomers to restore the entire earth as a new creation and to bring life to the dead that dwell therein! These are the “greater works” Jesus promised to them that believe. These are the works that those who come in their Father’s Name will soon do! Like Jesus they will proclaim, “I only do what I see my Father doing,” and they will do all of the things that Jesus himself did when he walked the earth two thousand years ago. But, this time they will do these works throughout the world and not just in Judah and Samaria.

In various Scriptures God calls the Overcomers his “first fruits.” He calls them this because they will be the first of mankind to come into maturity, the first to be fully made fully into his image. This is the sole purpose of creation… God is procreating himself. He is begetting, or bringing forth, sons in his exact image. This explains why he created every plant with seeds which re-produce after their own kind and why he demanded that men’s gardens contain individual seeds which did not cross pollinate.  He wants each seed to become the exact image of its parents, just as he intends each of his sons to bear his own full and true image. Because they come in their Father’s image they will proclaim that they are come in their Father’s Name!

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I AM Come in My Father’s Name (I AM (8))

Posted on November 20, 2011 by Glenn

I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. (John 5:43 KJV)

How little we understand of this man named Jesus, this man who did not come to “make a name for himself,” but a man who came in the name of another, even his Father. How unlike us he is. We all seek acclaim; we want to be somebody; we want our names engraved in stone or shone in lights in every theater. We proclaim ministries in our name; we build universities to our fame. And we love to have it so because we have not understood he whom we call “Lord.” We do not yet know him as LORD! But, even more than this, we do not understand that Jesus calls us to holiness, just as he is holy. Thus, he begins this new revelation of who he is with a parable.

John 5 begins with Jesus’ third miracle as accounted by John. He heals a crippled man who had been suffering under his infirmities for 38 years. Remember that we have learned that Jesus taught nothing unless he did so by parable. When he spoke he spoke in parables. When he inspired his holy men of old to write the Scriptures he also spoke in parables. This does not mean the stories themselves did not happen. No, he used true historical accounts to tell spiritual parables. So, as you read John 5:1-18, prayerfully ask that God reveal to you the meaning of the parable of the infirm man healed on the Sabbath.

First, why is important to mention that this particular man Jesus chose to heal had suffered severe physical ailments for 38 years? Does the number 38 appear any where else in the Bible?

And the space in which we came from Kadeshbarnea, until we were come over the brook Zered, was thirty and eight years; until all the generation of the men of war were wasted out from among the host, as the LORD sware unto them.  (Deuteronomy 2:14 KJV)

This passage shows that 38 years signifies a particular generation of adult men. What characterizes them? These were all the men of little faith who refused to go into the promised land under Moses’ leadership when he commanded them. God punished them by making them walk in the Wilderness of Sin until their flesh died, until they were in fact ready to obey God and walk in his promises. Likewise, this man in John 5 symbolizes all believers who have lived their lives in bondage to their flesh. These are the ones who boldly claim that Jesus forgives them of all their sins, but yet never learn the teaching about righteousness. They never learn to discern good and evil and to choose the good. Thus, at the end of 38 years, their generation (life time) of wandering in the wilderness of sin, God releases them from their spiritual bondage. But, he releases them with a warning, saying, “See you are well! Sin no more , that nothing worse may happen to you.”

And when does this parable come into its fulfillment? Recall that Jesus tarried two days with the Samaritans, the people of the woman at the well, to whom he revealed that he was the Water of Life. See John 4:40, 43. The Samaritans were considered unclean Gentiles to the Jews. Those two days represent the two thousand years in which Christ has been preached to all the Gentiles on earth. This event in Chapter 5, then, parabolically occurs on the third day, which according to the revelation of the “red heifer,” is also the seventh day. (See Number 19 and especially verses 19:12 and 19:19) This explains one reason why this miracle occurred on the Sabbath, the seventh day. This means that this parable will be prophetically fulfilled on the seventh day, the Day of the LORD.

As I first considered the meaning of this parable it seemed to me that the man must represent the Overcomers and that this story dealt with their glorification, for they too have suffered under the infirmity of their flesh their entire lives, a full generation. But, no, God resurrected the Overcomers in John 2 when he turned their water into wine. And the distinguishing characteristic of God’s overcomers is that they have learned to practice righteousness; at the time of this event they already understand and walk in the teaching about righteousness. Their inmost desire is to obey God and walk even as Jesus walked, in the perfection of holiness. To them Jesus will not say, “Sin no more,” for he has already perfected that desire in them. No, indeed, for it is to them that he next speaks when he reveals this new aspect of his divine character, “I AM come in my Father’s Name!”

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I AM the Light of the World (2) (I AM (7))

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Glenn

Then spoke Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:12)

I recounted my “testimony” in my last post, the story of my coming to a “saving” faith in Jesus Christ. I cannot tell you why I sought it, but I came to this faith because I was seeking “truth.” When I wrote that piece I had not yet looked again at this account in John where Jesus announced that he was the light of the world. I just remembered it was in John somewhere and that this needed to be the next “I AM” statement I presented. I had not even planned to give my testimony when I began to write. It just seemed to be the thing to do and, of course, the theme of my testimony is seeking the truth. How interesting, then, when I saw the Pharisee’s response to Jesus’ statement that he was the light of the world.

The Pharisees therefore said unto him, You bear record of yourself; your record is not true. (John 8:13)

This tells me that light and truth relate to one another, perhaps even, are synonymous with one another. Consider this entire passage:

Then spoke Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. The Pharisees therefore said unto him, You bear record of yourself; your record is not true. Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true: for I know from where I came, and where I go; but you cannot tell from where I come, and where I go. You judge after the flesh; I judge no man. And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me. It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true. I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me bears witness of me. Then said they unto him, Where is your Father? Jesus answered, You neither know me, nor my Father: if you had known me, you should have known my Father also. These words spoke Jesus in the treasury, as he taught in the temple: and no man laid hands on him; for his hour was not yet come. (John 8:12-20)

This passage deals almost entirely with the idea of whether or not Jesus’ testimony about himself is true, that is, this passage concerns truth. This correlation between light and truth proves important for understanding more about God’s creation of heaven and earth and his plan for mankind. Consider now the opening verses of John again.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in darkness; and the darkness overcame it not. (John 1:1-5)

And now return again to the beginning,

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. (Genesis 1:1-5)

Isn’t the parallel nature of John 1:1-5 and Genesis 1:1-5 very interesting? This symmetry did not occur by accident or coincidence; it reveals the very hand of God in its telling. First, understand that the “light” revealed in Genesis 1:3 is not the luminous light that we equate with being able to see in the natural. That light originates with the sun, or the moon, or the stars, or some type of lighting device like a light bulb. No, the light of Genesis 1:3 must have nothing to do with that which we consider luminescent. God did not create that type of light until the fourth day. John 1:1-5 and 8:12-20 lead me to believe, then, that the “light” portrayed in Genesis 1:3 must be of another nature than physical, natural light. I believe the nature of this light to be spiritual.

Jesus’ words to the Pharisees also help us see this. He said, “You judge after the flesh.” (John 8:15) On the other hand, he said, “I judge no man.” Jesus meant that he judged no man after the flesh, for later he tells them that his words judge them, and he is the Word. But, his words are spiritual. Spiritual words judge all men.

All of these things show us that the darkness covering the earth in Genesis 1:2 must have been a spiritual darkness. We saw that God’s light equals God’s truth. Now we see that spiritual darkness must be the realm of spiritual lies and deception. Creation’s first day thus pictures the beginning of man’s salvation, the day when God reveals his truth, his light, to a man. On that day God separates the light from the darkness within his soul. On that day spiritual day and night exist as separate places within him. On that day truth begins to shine into the darkness that still exists in his perverted and weak mind, will, and emotions. And that darkness that remains will never overcome this light which now shines!

“I AM the Light of the World,” Jesus said. Let that light, let the truth that IS Jesus, shine into every dark crevice of your being and, like him, become full of light!

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I AM the LIGHT of the World (I AM (6))

Posted on November 11, 2011 by Glenn

When I began this series I thought I would simply expound upon Jesus’ many “I AM” statements in the Book of John. As the series progressed I saw more and more how Jesus revealed himself as the Creator of all things and, more specifically, how his statements paralleled the very beginning verses of the Bible. These types of parallel statements have always been proofs for me that God wrote the Bible (through men). Let me tell you a little story.

When I was just turning 21 years old and in my fourth year of college, I dropped out. I was a math major, a chemistry major before that, and had always been a straight A student in Jr. High and High School. I often made A’s and B’s even in my math classes in college and got the highest grade in the class in the course “differential equations.” But, I liked to listen to music and party more than study, so I dropped out my senior year of college. I even worked at a music store in those days.

One day at work I walked across the street to the bookstore and browsed the philosophy section. I had been reading Krishnamurti and liked what I read. I was looking for more of his work, but then saw a book in that section called, “The New English Bible.” I said to myself, “I’ve always heard the truth is in this book. Why don’t I buy it, read it, and see if it is.” So I did. I began reading the New Testament at work, took the book home and read the Old Testament at night, took it back to work and read some more of the New Testament, and so on.

One night at home two or three months later, when I was reading the Book of Deuteronomy, and after reading the New Testament two full times and now reading it again, I realized that the “voice” of the person speaking in the Old Testament was the same as the “voice” I heard previously that day in the New Testament. If you have read many books by one author, like C. S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia or Agatha Christie novels, you will know what I mean. You learn to recognize a writer. But, I knew that the Old and New Testaments were written hundreds of years apart and could not have been written by the same writer.

So, I said to myself, “This is impossible, unless God wrote the Bible.”

After I spoke those words in my heart the voice of God spoke to me (whether it was audible or not I do not know, but it sounded audible because the voice was so real) and said, “That’s right, Glenn, and I want you to teach my word!”

That was it. That was all God said to me. But, in saying that the LIGHT went on for me, for then I said to myself, “Then I had better do what it says.” That was almost 35 years ago and since then my goal has been to understand this “word” and to seek God’s grace to obey it according to the revelation of it that he gives. But the way, the narrow path, has not been easy, not even after receiving a direct word from the LORD like that. The Word of God has been sweet in my mouth (I love to gain new understandings and get new revelations in his Word), but it has been bitter in my belly (the way of the LORD is hard; it is a narrow way; it is a wilderness walk; it is dying to the lusts of flesh and soul and living to the ways of God; it is understanding truth and denying deception; it is standing for that truth when you see your friends walk against it; it is learning to discern good and evil and choosing the good; it is growing in knowledge of the truth so that you can recognize the great deceptions that continually plague mankind; it is learning mercy so that you can forgive whose who sin against you and the whole world; it is finally becoming Love, becoming one with the Light and the Truth).

Yes, the long walk of faith becomes bitter and hard. Yet, one thing has always sustained me. Whenever I have considered going another way I have thought, like the disciples before me, “Where else could I go. You have the words of truth.” For, after all, isn’t truth the ultimate issue? “What is truth?” asked Pilate, and Jesus answered not, for the truth stood before him!

Yes, 35 years ago the LIGHT of the World was revealed to me, and his goal is to reveal that light to all men so that all people can walk in the illumination thereof and cease walking in darkness.

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I AM the LIFE of the World (I AM (5))

Posted on November 6, 2011 by Glenn

Now let’s consider some of the most important Scriptures in the Bible in order to discern the next revelation of who Jesus the Christ really is. No one should doubt his deity after reading this passage written by Jesus’ best friend, the apostle John, who was an eye-witness to his majesty and was no liar:

1 (A)In the beginning was (B)the Word, and the Word was (C)with God, and (D)the Word was God. 2 [a]He was in the beginning with God. 3 (E)All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. 4 (F)In Him was life, and the life was (G)the Light of men. 5 (H)The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not [b]comprehend it. (John 1:1-5 NASB)

These five verses exactly parallel the first five verses of the Bible, which say,

 1 (A)In the beginning (B)God (C)created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was [a](D)formless and void, and (E)darkness was over the [b]surface of the deep, and (F)the Spirit of God(G)was [c]moving over the [d]surface of the waters. 3 Then (H)God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was (I)good; and God (J)separated the light from the darkness. 5 (K)God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And (L)there was evening and there was morning, one day. (Genesis 1:1-5, NASB)

Notice the order in each account. First, God (whom John calls the Word) created “all things.” Genesis calls “all things” the heavens and the earth and then goes on to describe the things in heaven and on earth. And, as we previously saw, the Spirit of God brooded upon “the waters” prior to creating this present cosmos including our earth.

Later in the Book of John Jesus made a three-fold revelation of himself, saying, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) Right now we will only consider his statement, “I AM the LIFE.” Earlier John wrote,4 (F)In Him was life, and the life was (G)the Light of men. (John 1:4) Do we also see this life in the very beginning, in Genesis 1? Of course. In verse 2 we read, “(F)the Spirit of God(G)was [c]moving over the [d]surface of the waters.”

John thus reveals Christ as the animating Spirit in all mankind. Paul said, “In him (Jesus Christ) all things hold together,” which means that Christ’s power not only makes things alive, it actually causes them to exist and retain their individuality. Paul makes this very clear, saying,

15 is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

 16For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

 17And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. (Colossians 1:15-17)*

Jesus said, “I AM the LIFE!” How full of meaning that is! How little we understand it, for we have not yet entered into the life he has fully prepared for us. Until then let us walk on with him, attempting to apprehend all that HE IS!

* I want to warn you there now exists a great attempt by Satan and his ambassadors to slander Paul these days. Many have gone abroad saying that Paul did not the preach the truth as delivered to the apostles who actually walked with Jesus. I can tell you that based upon a lifetime of studying the Scriptures that this is devil-inspired deception. Paul’s words are every bit as much the Scripture as the writings of the other apostles and prophets. Just consider Peter’s own words concerning Paul and his revelation of Jesus.

 14 (A)Therefore, (B)beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be (C)found by Him in peace, (D)spotless and blameless, 15 and regard the (E)patience of our Lord assalvation; just as also (F)our beloved brother Paul, (G)according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 16 as also in all hisletters, speaking in them of (H)these things, (I)in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and (J)unstable distort, as they do also (K)the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17 You therefore, (L)beloved, knowing this beforehand, (M)be on your guard so that you are not carried away by (N)the error of (O)unprincipled men and (P)fall from your own steadfastness, 18 but grow in the grace and (Q)knowledge of our (R)Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (S)To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

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I AM the Water of Life (2)… (I AM (4))

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Glenn

Water itself makes up one of the world’s greatest mysteries. Click here to watch an amazing video regarding just one of those mysteries. Now remember the very beginning of God’s revelation to men:

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:1-2)

What are these waters mentioned in Genesis 1, verse 2? The first part of the verse calls these waters by a different name, “the deep.” So, what is the “deep?” The word “deep” comes from the Hebrew word pronounced “teh-home” and according to Strong’s means, “an abyss (as a surging mass of water), especially the deep (the main sea or the subterranean water-supply).” If we review the other occurrences of the word “teh-home” in the Old Testament we see that it almost always means a great mass of water. Then, concerning the second day of creation, we read,

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.  And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.  (Genesis 1:6-8)

Various explanations exist concerning this passage, the most plausible in my mind being that before God sent the rains that caused the Flood a great “canopy” existed around the world and watered the plants daily with a type of dew. The point I want to make here, however, is that water played an extremely significant role in the creation of the world. In fact, water itself seemed so significant in God’s mind that his very first miracle concerned water. Consider,

And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.  When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. (John 2:1-10)

So, on the first day the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. On the second day God separated the waters, keeping some water on earth and the rest of the water in heaven. Now, John says that on “the third day” God turned water into wine and that this was the first of his miracles. What does this miracle mean?

We understand through Scripture that with the LORD a day is as a thousand years. And we remember that the prophet Hosea said,

Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. (Hosea 6:1-3)

I believe that Hosea speaks of the first resurrection of God’s faithful people here.  He says that this great event, called “the rapture” by many, will occur on the prophetic third day after Jesus Christ’s life here on earth.  Interpreting prophetically, then, this means that the first resurrection will happen some time during the third thousand year period of time after Jesus’ earthly life. This describes the day we live in now. The Bible calls this thousand year period of time “the Day of the LORD.” I also believe that this is the day that John 2 prophetically looks to and that Jesus’ first miracle will be fulfilled on this third day, which means that it will be fulfilled soon. So, what does the miracle itself really mean?

Recall that Jesus never said anything except by parable according to Mark 4:34. John taught us in the first chapter of his Gospel that Jesus was the Word made flesh. Other prophets make it clear that the Bible is the written Word of God. Every story in the Bible then, although historically true, actually conveys one or more of Christ’s parables. This is also true of the story of Jesus’ first miracle in John 2.

Man was created on the sixth day.  666 is the number of man. He is man, man, man, and never God, never 7. So, the six waterpots represent men, men who consent to be filled with water. According to Ephesians 5:26 the water is the water of the word. Since Jesus is the Word and since Jesus is the Water of Life, these men consent to being filled with Jesus, to becoming one with him. At the beginning of the miracle we thus see a picture (parable) of men who have allowed the water of life to fill them.

This is also the primary meaning of the parable of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet in John 13. Jesus did not wash their feet because they were unclean; rather he said to them, “you are clean.” (John 13:10) Still, Jesus said to Peter, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” [vs. 8] The disciples, except for Judas, were clean because they believed in Jesus. But, they were not yet overcomers. They had not yet been washed by the Word. Jesus thus washed their feet in order to show them that they needed to be washed by the Word, just as Paul taught in Ephesians 5:26. The six waterpots prophetically indicate God’s overcomers who allow Jesus to wash their feet, to wash them with his Word.

The next picture shows the water being used by men, but now it is no longer water; the water has become wine! According to Matthew 26:27-29 the wine represents the blood of Jesus. This picture indicates the glorification of God’s overcomers. They have now been made totally like him; they have become one with him; his blood has become their blood.

And finally we see that this wine is better even than the wine given at first. This means that the ministry of the overcomers far exceeds the ministry of Pentecost. Pentecost represents the “former rain,” the first outpouring of the Holy Spirit which has now all but come to its end. The “latter rain” represents the ministry of the overcomers foreseen by Hosea in the Scripture quoted above that begins on the third day. When the people of this world finally see this ministry, then they will in unison proclaim, “you have kept the good wine until now!”

Notice that this miracle also corresponds to God’s miracle of creation done on the second day when he separated the waters. One group of water remained on earth; God moved the other to heaven. This shows us that “the water” in Genesis 1:1-2 typifies people. The separation of the waters in Genesis 1:6-8 typifies the separation of the sheep and the goats that we see in Matthew 25:31-46.  At the time of the first resurrection the sheep (overcomers) will receive their glorified bodies filled with Christ’s blood (the water turned to wine) and will be able to freely move between heaven and earth. These are the waters separated unto heaven. On the other hand, the water separated unto earth represents the goats, those who failed to overcome.  They will have their part in what the Bible calls “the Lake of Fire.” This is because they remain on earth and will be subject to the rod of iron (legal jurisdiction) which the overcomers will wield. The overcomers through mercy and truth will teach them how, finally, to obey God.

Thus we see the picture Jesus brings to men as “the Water of Life.”

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I AM the Water of Life (I AM (3))

Posted on October 24, 2011 by Glenn

I first thought of writing this series after I searched the book of John for all the times that Jesus said, “I AM…” In that first search I found that upon various occasions Jesus affirmatively stated “I AM” with respect to some revelation of who he is. Those teachings include: 1) I AM the Bread of Life (6:35); 2) I AM the Light of the World (8:12); 3) I AM the Door of the Sheep (10:7); 4) I AM the Good Shepherd (10:11); 5) I AM the Song of God; 6) I AM the Resurrection (11:25); 7) I Am the Life (11:25; 14:6); 8] I AM the Way (14:6); 9) I AM the Truth (14:6); 10) I AM the True Vine (15:5); and 11) simply I AM (13:19). As I contemplated these and the book of John, though, I remembered the woman at the well and Jesus words to her and thought I must have missed one.

Read all of John 4 for the complete story. Here we see Jesus ask a Samaritan woman for a drink of water. She expresses great surprise when Jesus talks to her because he is clearly a Jew and she but a woman of mixed races. Her incredulity probably came not so much from the fact that Jesus talked to her, but from the fact that he was actually going to touch her and drink water that she had touched! The Jews taught that such people were unclean and that they could not touch such a one without becoming unclean themselves. The Jews were racist, but Jesus was not. He knew that he could not be defiled by touching a woman of mixed race.

In response to her question born of surprise Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you (O)living water.” Then she says to him, “[b]Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that (P)living water? 12 You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who (Q)gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?” And Jesus replies, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him (R)shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to (S)eternal life.”

 15 The woman *said to Him, “[c]Sir, (T)give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.” 16 He *said to her, “Go, call your husband and come here.” 17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus *said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.” 19 The woman *said to Him, “[d]Sir, I perceive that You are (U)a prophet. 20 (V)Our fathers worshiped in (W)this mountain, and you people say that(X)in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” 21 Jesus *said to her,“Woman, believe Me, (Y)an hour is coming when (Z)neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 (AA)You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for (AB)salvation is from the Jews. 23 But (AC)an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father (AD)in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24 God is[e]spirit, and those who worship Him must worship (AE)in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman *said to Him, “I know that (AF)Messiah is coming ((AG)He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” 26 Jesus *said to her, “(AH)I who speak to you am He.” (John 4:10-26)

I missed this one because here Jesus simply said, “I AM.” But notice when he said it. He affirmed to this mixed-race woman that he, the Jew condescending to speak to and touch her, was the Messiah, the Christ! And look further at the context. Not only did he reveal himself as the anticipated Jewish Messiah, he told her that he was the Water of Life! And told her that if she simply asked him he would give her living water!

Water is the most abundant resource on the surface of the earth and water comprises about 70 percent of our bodies. We can live without food for many days; we can live without water very few. We must have water or we will die, and die soon! Thus Jesus first reveals himself as that most essential element that none can live without. In one short meeting Jesus reveals himself as the Messiah, the Christ, the water of life, and the God who reaches out to save all men, not just the Jews! And so, Jesus reveals himself as “I AM,” the very God of the Old Testament, at least twelve different ways in the Book of John.

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“I Am Not” (“I AM” (2))

Posted on October 18, 2011 by Glenn

We saw in part one of this series that John begins his great gospel by revealing Jesus as the Creator of the world. He then uses the rest of his book to prove that Jesus is in fact this Creator whose name we know as Yahweh from the Old Testament. Take hold of this idea, for this understanding can dramatically change the way you view the Scripture. Perhaps you were taught that the God of the Old Testament is Christ’s Father and is a God of Law while Christ himself is the Son of God, a God of grace. When we truly understand that Jesus is that God which revealed himself to Abraham, Jacob, and Moses we will no longer avoid the Old Testament because we deem it too “legalistic.”

John therefore begins by revealing Jesus as that creative “Word,” that omnipotent God, who “in the beginning … created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) Then, before he begins to explain the particular characteristics of this God, he introduces us to his forerunner, John the Baptist.

And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who are you? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Are you Elijah? And he said, I am not. Are you that prophet? And he answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who are you? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What say you of yourself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah. (John 1:19-23)

So, before John continues explaining who Jesus is, he tells us who John the Baptist is not. He is not the Christ, the subject of his gospel. The Baptist was, though, a powerful man. Therefore the Levites pressed him.

And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptize you then, if you are not that Christ, nor Elijah, neither that prophet? John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there stands one among you, whom you know not; He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s thong I am not worthy to unloose. (John 1:25-27)

First and foremost John the Baptist is not Jesus the Christ. The Baptist taught us that his life must decrease so that Jesus’ life could increase. This example set the pattern for all future true servants of his LORD, including the many martyrs in the two thousand years since Jesus’ death and resurrection. John made it clear that he did not come to make a name for himself. He came to prepare the hearts of people to receive and believe in the One who did not come in his own name, but who came in the Name of his Father.

Understanding who Jesus is reminds me of the old English Robin Hood series starring Richard Greene. Remember, Robin Hood protected the English poor from the wicked prince John when King Richard the Lionhearted journeyed to fight in the Crusades. From time to time, however, King Richard would return unexpectedly to England. Every time he revealed himself all of his loyal subjects immediately fell to their knees or upon their faces. Whenever I see this, I always think that this is how I will respond when Jesus finally reveals himself face to face to me. And thus was John. He was unworthy to even loose Jesus’ sandal strap!

I like to place spiritual titles on the first pages of books of the Bible. My copy of the Gospel of John now has two such names, “The Revelation of the Father” and “The Book of I AM.” God told Moses, “I AM WHO I AM … Say this to the people of Israel, `I AM has sent me to you.’” Hundreds of years later this same I AM took the form of a human being. He became best friends with the man he chose to write the revelation of himself, the Apostle John. The next posts in this series will look at each understanding of I AM that God gave John to reveal. By the time we finish I think you will whole-heartedly agree that this Jesus, this God who became man, truly IS Yahweh, the God of the Old Testament!

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